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Researchers step closer to type 1 cure

BAR HARBOR, Maine - Researchers at the Jackson Laboratory may have discovered the key that will unlock some of the genetic mysteries of type 1 diabetes, the Bangor Daily News reported. The scientists have figured out a way to fix defective, diabetes-causing cells in laboratory mice before the disease ever has a chance to develop. The research team has been studying antigen-presenting cells, or APCs, which show the body's white blood cells what to fight off and what to leave alone, a process called "tolerance induction." In type 1 diabetes, the white blood cells destroy cells in the pancreas that create insulin. Researchers have discovered a corrective protein that fixes the APCs.